The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl

 

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl 

This book contains seven stories by children's author Roald Dahl.  Six of the stories are fiction while the other two are rare nonfiction pieces by the author.  There are a variety of stories including fantasy (The Boy Who Talked to Animals), war fiction (Piece of Cake), magic realism (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), and a true story of treasure (The Mildenhall Treasure).  

I listened to this on audio and highly recommend that format.  The narrator does a great job of reading the stories.  While I didn't care for all the stories and one of them I found very disturbing (The Swan), I would still recommend this to fans of Roald Dahl.

I Had That Same Dream Again by Yoru Sumino & Idumi Kirihara

 

Nanoka doesn't have too many friends.  She does have three though -- a high schooler who harms herself, a young woman who turned her back on life and had society turn away from her, and an old woman who lives alone.  Through visits with these three different friends, Nanoka answers her question of what is happiness.

This was a very interesting manga.  Nanoka grows a lot as a character throughout the story.  Her interactions with her three friends and eventually a boy from school change her life in many ways.  This is a haunting read for teens that like to think deep thoughts and consider their place in the world.